Autohome Stock Drops Despite Strong Revenue, Income

Despite a two-digit jump in both revenue and income in the first quarter, Autohome Inc. (NYSE: ATHM) saw its shares drop nearly 4 percent, to $106.40 apiece, Wednesday morning in New York.

The Beijing-based online car dealer reported revenue growth of 25 percent today for the first three months of this year. The company, which runs at autohome.com.cn and che168.com, reported net revenue of $240.2 million, better than forecast by analysts and above its own guidance for the quarter.

Specifically, Autohome said its auto-financing and data products businesses enjoyed a 152 percent increase from a year earlier. Revenue from the company's media services increased by 10 percent.

Net income for the quarter surged 34 percent from a year earlier to $96.3 million, or 81 cents per share, according to the report.

"We achieved a solid set of operating and financial results for the first quarter of 2019, despite the weak macroeconomic conditions," Min Lu, Autohome's chief executive officer, said in the statement.

The company highlighted the usability of its mobile websites, which drew an influx of users in the first quarter. The total number of average daily unique visitors reached 30.2 million, showing an increase of 14 percent, according to the report.

In addition, the company noted its information generation capability and the recent launch of a search engine, enriched with Energy Vehicle and Mini Short Video channels.

Autohome has developed an intelligent search engine named Carso, designed to provide car-related data. The app provides brief information on cars, including images, media releases, consumer reviews, data charts, comparable cars, and used cars, among other things.

"All of these reflect the success of Autohome as a leading auto ecosystem supported by artificial intelligence, big data and cloud technologies," Lu said.

The auto industry suffered a slowdown in the first quarter in China. From January to March 2019, the sales of Chinese passenger cars totaled 2.2 million units, down 21 percent year-over-year, according to the statistical analysis of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.